Thank you for your email.  

Please note, if you are sending an automated request for personal data
erasure via a third-party, before we can proceed with your request we
require a copy of your ID, scanned copy of a driving licence/passport.

If your enquiry is related to a current application to study at King's or
you want to know more about a course or support available for King's
students, please contact the relevant Student Services team directly
instead:

[1]https://www.kcl.ac.uk/study/undergraduat...

Student Services Online ([2]https://self-service.kcl.ac.uk ) also has the
answer to common questions about the student experience and support.

For all other enquiries relating to requests made under the Freedom of
Information Act (2000), the Environmental Information Regulations (2004),
or the Data Protection Act and UK GDPR (2018) a member of the Information
Compliance team will be in touch separately with official acknowledgement
of your request.

Kind regards,

Information Compliance

References

Visible links
1. https://www.kcl.ac.uk/study/undergraduat...
2. https://self-service.kcl.ac.uk/

Dear Amy Zhang,  

 

Request for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (“the
Act”)

 

Further to your recent request for information held by King’s College
London, I am writing to confirm that the requested information is held in
part by the university.

 

Your request

 

We received your information request on 20^th July 2024 and have treated
it as a request for information made under section 1(1) of the Act.

 

You requested the following information:

 

I am writing to kindly request a detailed breakdown of enrollment
statistics of Chinese students. Specifically, the Application, Offer, and
Enrollment statistics for Chinese students for the academic year
2024/2025, for postgraduate taught master's programs only.

 

By "Chinese," I am referring to individuals holding Chinese nationality,
excluding those from Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan.

 

Our response

 

The University can confirm it holds some of the requested data for the
2024/25 academic year, however, this information has been withheld in
accordance with section 43(2) of the Freedom of Information Act –
Commercial Interests.  

  

Student recruitment has been recognised as a commercial activity for
universities (see ICO decision notice:
[1]https://ico.org.uk/media/action-weve-tak...).
Since the UK government removed caps on the number of students
institutions could accept from 2015/16, King’s College London (KCL), must
operate within an increasingly competitive global market to continue to
attract the best students. Consequently, Higher Education Providers (HEPs)
such as King’s must recognise the impact these dynamics are having in
conferring elevated or additional commercial value on certain internal
information around recruitment. 

   

We consider that the records we hold in this regard are exempt under
Section 43(2) as disclosure would be likely to prejudice the commercial
interests of King’s College University. Disclosure of information to this
level, at this point in the admissions cycle, would likely harm the
ability of KCL to compete with other providers in the management of their
admissions decisions and offer making. The College acknowledges the public
interest in a healthy and competitive market place. However, disclosure of
information which would be likely to undermine the competitiveness of
King’s by allowing competitors to gain access to key information about our
programmes, their level of interest and take up, exposing demand and
provision. Other HEPs would be likely to use this information to inform
their marketing strategies in the following cycle; more aggressively
targeting specific areas perceived as weak. They would be likely to use
this commercial intelligence to see areas which are over and under
subscribed and target their recruitment accordingly. This would be likely
to impact on the College’s number and quality of applicants, undermining
its ability to compete in the sector. 

  

This is a qualified exemption and requires the consideration of a public
interest test: assessing whether the balance of the public interest
favours disclosing the information or maintaining the exemption. In this
case we have considered that the public interest favours non-disclosure.
It is in the public interest for the university to be able to fairly
attract best candidates and maintain its position as a world leading
university.   

 

This completes the university’s response to your information request.

 

Your right to complain

 

If you are unhappy with the service you have received in relation to your
information request or feel that it has not been properly handled you have
the right to complain or request a review of our decision by contacting
the Director of Information Governance & Data Protection Officer within 60
days of the date of this letter.  

 

Further information about our internal complaints procedure is available
at the link below: 

[2]http://www.kcl.ac.uk/college/policyzone/...

 

In the event that you are not content with the outcome of your complaint
you may apply to the Information Commissioner for a decision. Generally,
the Information Commissioner cannot make a decision unless you have
exhausted the internal complaints procedure provided by King’s College
London.

 

The Information Commissioner can be contacted at the following address:

The Information Commissioner’s Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Lakeisha Dowsey-Magog (she/her)

Information Compliance Officer

Department of Business Assurance

King’s College London

Room: SW1.09

Somerset House East Wing

Strand Campus

WC2R 2LS

 

References

Visible links
1. https://ico.org.uk/media/action-weve-tak...
2. http://www.kcl.ac.uk/college/policyzone/...

Dear Amy Zhang,

Thank you for your email requesting an internal review, which I will be undertaking.

I hope to revert to you within 20 working days of receipt of your review request.

Neil Doling (he/him)
Senior Information Compliance Officer
Department of Business Assurance
King's College London
Room: SW1.09
Somerset House East Wing
Strand Campus
WC2R 2LS

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Dear Amy Zhang,

Thank you for your request for an Internal Review under the Freedom of Information Act. Please find attached our response.

Neil Doling (he/him)
Senior Information Compliance Officer
Department of Business Assurance
King's College London
Room: SW1.09
Somerset House East Wing
Strand Campus
WC2R 2LS

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